Carry out a safety assessment

Carry out a safety assessment

The safety assessment guides decision making about:

• the threat of immediate harm to the child in the household
• what interventions are needed to keep the child safe
• a safety decision for each child in the household
• whether an immediate safety plan can be developed to ensure the safety of any child who remains in the home, if immediate harm indicators have been identified.

An initial safety assessment is carried out as soon as possible at the start of an investigation and assessment, during the first face-to-face contact with a child and family. Subsequent safety assessments occur throughout intervention with a child and family.

Use the safety assessment tool to identify immediate harm indicators for the child and decide if the child:

• can stay at home safely
  or
• can stay at home with protective interventions
  or
• must be placed outside the home to keep them safe.

Before leaving the child in the home:

• gather enough information to complete the safety assessment
• ensure the child’s immediate safety.

Do not complete a safety assessment for:

• a harm report
• the investigation and assessment of an unborn child.

Complete the safety assessment for the household where the harm or risk of harm is alleged to have occurred. If the parents do not live together and harm or risk is alleged in both households, complete two safety assessments.

Complete the initial safety assessment

To complete the safety assessment:

• Gather and analyse information from observations and interviews with
  • the child and their family
  • other relevant people.
• Provide parents with information about the concerns, so they can participate fully in the process.
• Provide the child with information about the concerns, having regard to the child’s age and ability to understand, so they have an opportunity to participate in the process if they want to.
• Ask the family about their Aboriginal tradition or Island custom, for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child.
• Apply the information to the safety assessment to determine if an immediate harm indicator is present. (Refer to the SDM policy and procedures manual.)

If an immediate harm indicator is identified, refer to Take action when an immediate harm indicator is identified.

If no immediate harm indicators are identified:

• Record the safety assessment in ICMS. The safety assessment outcome will appear in the Assessment and outcome form in ICMS.
• Submit the safety assessment to the senior team leader for approval within 72 hours of completing the safety assessment.
• Continue with the investigation and assessment.

Complete a subsequent safety assessment:

• if new information or a change in circumstances indicates a threat to the child’s safety but the information does not reach the threshold for a notification—for example, a change in household membership, including a parent leaving, an adult or child moving in, or a newborn or a child discharged from hospital
• if any party to the immediate safety plan is not complying with the current safety plan
• before returning a child home:
  • after an unsafe safety decision
  • if the child is subject to a care agreement
  • if a parent removes a child from an approved care arrangement
• if a child returns home from an approved care arrangement, without Child Safety approval.

Take action when an immediate harm indicator is identified

If one or more immediate harm indicators are identified, implement the most appropriate immediate safety intervention to ensure the child’s immediate safety.

An immediate safety intervention will be either:

• non-custody interventions developed and agreed to in an immediate safety plan to keep the child safe in the household
  or
• placement interventions (with an approved carer) if an immediate safety plan cannot be developed to keep the child safe.

If safe and practicable, discuss the immediate harm indicator/s with the child, if possible, and the family and decide in collaboration with them, and the safety and support network, what actions and interventions are needed to keep the child safe. Assess whether the agreed safety interventions are adequate to mitigate the safety concerns present in the household.

Develop an immediate safety plan

The immediate safety plan is a written agreement collaboratively developed with the family, child and the family’s network if an immediate harm indicator has been identified and at least one child will stay in the home.

The immediate safety plan must address the immediate harm in the present to short term future.

If there is a Significant DFV threat alert recorded in a person’s profile in ICMS, consider all the previous information relating to the domestic and family violence.

Before developing a safety plan for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child:

• Tell the child and the child's parents of their right to have an independent person help facilitate their participation in making decisions relating to developing the safety plan. 
• Arrange for the independent person, if the child or family consent to the involvement of an independent person.
• Contact the senior team leader, who will decide suitability of the independent person, unless it is:
  • not practical or possible because the independent person is not available or because the safety plan must be developed urgently
  • likely to have a significant adverse effect on the safety or emotional wellbeing of the child or another person
  • not in the child’s best interest.
• Make arrangements to ensure the child and the child’s family group is able to meaningfully participate in developing the immediate safety plan.

If a Family Participation Program representative is also present and the family agrees, they may either:

• facilitate the chld and family’s participation in the development of the immediate safety plan
  or
• be the child and family’s independent person (if the suitability of the Family Participation Program’s representative has been determined).

An individual staff member from the Family Participation Program cannot carry out both roles.

To develop an immediate safety plan:

• Describe what Child Safety is worried about, addressing each identified immediate harm indicator, its impacts, and the individual safety needs of each child—especially those with increased vulnerability due to age or disability.
• Encourage the chld and family to identify people or services they know and trust, who may agree to be safety and support network members in an immediate safety plan.
• Contact other parties, identified by the child and family as safety and support network members, to confirm their willingness, ability and suitability to participate in the immediate safety plan, and tell them about the identified harm indicators.
• Outline what the parents, safety and support network members and other people must do immediately to ensure the child’s safety in the home—and assess their ability to complete all required actions.
• Seek agreement from all parties to the necessary intervention.
• Record how the plan will be monitored, by whom and how often.
• Record the family’s and network members’ agreement to the plan and make sure the plan is signed by all the people involved in its implementation.
• Record the immediate safety plan for each child who will stay in the home in culturally appropriate and family-centred language.
• Schedule a date for the review of the immediate safety plan (no more than 7 days from when the plan was developed).
• Give a copy of the completed and signed immediate safety plan to the parents, the child if appropriate, and any other person involved in its implementation.
• Tell the child and family that the plan will remain in place until:
  • the immediate danger is resolved
  • a new safety assessment is completed and, if needed, a new immediate safety plan is developed
    or
  • a case plan is developed that ensures the child’s safety and addresses issues in the safety plan.
• Record the immediate safety plan or attach a hard copy of the plan in the safety assessment form in ICMS.
• Submit the safety assessment and the immediate safety plan to the senior team leader for approval within 72 hours of completing the safety assessment.

Consider a private arrangement

A private arrangement:

• is a non-custody arrangement
• is organised by the child’s parents, not Child Safety
• is in place for a short time—up to 2 or 3 days
• gives parents time to take immediate actions needed to address safety concerns for the child.

Consider a private arrangement if:

• one or more immediate harm indicator has been identified
• the child needs to live outside the home due to the risks identified
• the parents agree for the child to stay with a family member or friend.

Before agreeing to the private arrangement as part of the immediate safety plan, make direct contact with the person nominated by the parents to care for the child, to:

• decide if they are suitable, including whether they are
  • able to care for the child for the agreed time
  • willing and have the capacity to co-operate and keep the child safe from the identified harm
  • willing to immediately advise the CSSC or CSAHSC if the child returns home
• provide them with the CSSC and the CSAHSC contact details
• advise them that a check of their child protection history will need to be carried out and considered before they can care for the child.

Finalise the safety assessment and immediate safety plan if:

• the person agrees to care for the child
  and
• the child protection history check raises no concern about them caring for the child.

If the person nominated by the parents to care for the child has a child protection history:

• Consult the senior team leader to decide if the private arrangement is suitable.
• Discuss (with the nominated person) their child protection history to clarify any issues, if necessary. Do not disclose the person’s child protection history to the child’s parents or any other third party.
• Record the decision and the arrangement made between the relevant parties.
• Review the immediate safety plan to make sure it meets the child’s safety needs or to consider whether a care arrangement (placement intervention) is required.

Use a placement intervention

Always use a care arrangement (placement intervention) if:

• An immediate safety plan cannot be developed with the family and at least one network member to ensure the child’s safety in the home.
• It is in the best interests of the child to be provided with a formal, legal care arrangement.
• It is assessed that
  • the parent, or the person proposed to care for the child may not adhere to a private arrangement
  • the child is likely to return to the parent’s care where the high-risk factors exist
    and
  • the parent is more likely to adhere to a formal arrangement.
• A private arrangement is not suitable or a parent cannot identify a person to care for the child in a private arrangement.

Before placing a child, obtain the necessary authority for the care arrangement. This could be:

• an assessment care agreement—if the parents agree to the child being placed in care
• an assessment order (TAO or CAO granting custody to the chief executive)—if further assessment is needed, and a parent does not agree to an assessment care agreement
• a TCO—if the child is already in need of protection, and a parent does not agree to the care agreement.

For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child:

• Tell the child and their parents about their right to have an independent person to help facilitate their participation in the decision about where and with whom the child will live.
• Arrange for the independent person, including deciding their suitability, unless it is
  • not practical because the person is not available or the decision is urgent
  • likely to have a significant adverse effect on the safety or emotional wellbeing of the child or another person
  • not in the child’s best interest.
• Consider the views of the child and family in the decision about where and with whom the child will live.

Refer to Procedure 5 Enable participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in decision making for information about determining suitability to be an independent person.

End a care arrangment (placement intervention) as part of an immediate safety intervention if a subsequent safety assessment establishes that either:

• no immediate harm indicators are present and the child can return home safely
• the child is 'safe with an immediate safety plan’ and can return home with the immediate safety plan in place.

Immediate safety concerns for a newborn child

In exceptional circumstances, when a child is at immediate risk of harm at the time of birth and an alternative safety intervention cannot be implemented to ensure the immediate safety of the  child, consult with the senior team leader and the OCFOS lawyer to decide the immediate action required to secure custody of the child.

To secure custody of the child, take one of following actions:

• negotiate with the parents for the child to be placed under a care agreement (Refer to Consider an assessment care agreement and Procedure 4 Child protection care agreement.)
• use powers under the Child Protection Act 1999, section 18
• apply for a TAO or CAO, where further assessment is required
• apply for a TCO, if no further assessment is required.

Consult with hospital staff as soon as possible if a newborn child’s immediate safety needs mean they cannot safely be left unsupervised with the mother after the child’s birth. 

Only ask hospital staff to assist in removing the baby from the mother's care if removal has been authorised by:

• the parents consenting to a care agreement
• the use of the Child Protection Act 1999, section 18
  or
• a TAO, CAO, TCO or child protection order.

Once authority has been obtained to remove the child from the parents' care, consult hospital staff about whether the newborn child will remain in the hospital nursery until ready for discharge. Locate an appropriate care arrangement for the child as soon as practicable, to minimise delays in the newborn child being discharged.

For an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child, speak with the family to explore care arrangement options that comply with additional provisions for placing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in care under the Child Protection Act, section 83.